AITIi  IN  CllltlST  ANIi  KAIlll  IN  DOCTRINE 

(Ji)iii|V(ii-P(:l  anfl  Co;i]tra.steil. 


Ffii  Haccalaareate  Sermon, 


IM{K\(  ilKFt   Ri-Riia: 


i\ij  v\/ijijijiiu   v.'r    x>iJ>)     o 

1 

JUNE   23,   1872, 

1 

y 

By  JAMES  McCOSH,  D.D., 

LL,D., 

I'HKSIDKNT    OK    TIIK    (OLLK(. 

i:. 

1 

— 

1 
1 

IM:1N(   KTON: 

1 
1 

-Ti:i,T-K    \    S^IITH,    1'rMLISIIER.S    AND    BOOKSELLKRir.                                      1 

1872. 

1 

FAITH  IN  CHRIST  AM)  FAITH  IN  DOCTlllNE 

i'oiijparc'i:!  u.ih:I  CDjrtrri.stpol, 


^ha  Bacoalatiraata  Bmmo% 


I'UKACIIKI*    KKFOKI-: 


TIJE  COLLECxE  OF  NEW  JERSEY, 

JUNE  2'S,   is:->, 

Bjj  JAMES  McCOSir,  D.D.,  LL,D., 

PKIISIDKNT    OF    Till-:    (OIJJK  JK. 


IMMNCKTON:  ' 

STELI.K   A    SMITH,    IT  MI.ISMKUS    AXI>    BOOKsKLLKRS. 
1872. 


Princeton,  June  21tli,  1872. 
Rev.  Dr.  McCo.-^ii: 

Dear  Sir: — The  undersigned  eomniittee,  appointed  by  the  Senior  ("lass,  at 
a  meeting  held  June  24th,  wonhl  respectfully  and  earnestly  request,  on  behalf 
of  the  Class,  for  publication,  your  Baccalaureate  Sermon,  delivered  June  23d, 

1S72. 

('.  S.  Lane,  ] 

T.  W.  .Johnston,  -  CommUke. 

S.  E.  EwiNc;.         j 


Princeton,  .June  24lh,  1872. 
My  Dear  Friends: — Since  you  have  made  such  a  request,  I  feel  that 

tliere  is  no  course  left  for  me  but  to  comply  with  it. 

James  M(  Cosh. 


SERMON 


"Tlie  just  shall  livr  l.y  f:iitl»."— /»"»(.  ii.,  17. 

"  But  si.eak  then  tl.o  thin-s  whicli  bonmic  scmul  .Inrtriiu-."- 77/.  li..  1. 

There  is  ii  well-known  tale  of  a  yonn--  woman  (•(miii.-  ma 
Seoteh  minister  to  bo  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Table,  of  his  cxam- 
inino;  her  as  to  her  knowledj^e  of  the  trnths  of  reli-ion,  of  his 
findhig  her,  as  he  thou-ht,  lamentably  ignorant,  and  refnsing  her 
the  privilege  she  was  seeking;  but,  as  she  retired,  she  burst  into 
tears,  and  the  expression  was  wrung  from  her:  ^'Th.-ngli  I  can- 
not speak  for  my  Saviour,  I  could  die  ibr  llim"— an  ai>pcal 
whic'h  could  not  be  resisted.  J  am,  in  this  paper,  to  discourse, 
Hrst,  of  the  faith  that  saves ;  and  secondly,  the  faith  in  truth 
which  a  man  can  utter  and  cxix.und.  The  one  of  these  is  spon- 
taneous direct,  looking  immediately  on  Christ,  living  upon  llim 
and  by  Him,  and  mav  be  called  Saving  I'aith  ;  the' other  is  re- 
flective, h,oking  to  general  inuh,  an<l  maybe  .-ailed  Dnrtnnal 
Faith. 

I  ''The  iu<t  shall  live  bv  filth."  Thl<  faith  is  distinguished 
from  sense  "and  sight.  -  lilessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen, 
and  vet  have  believed."  [.lohn  xx.,  '2<>.]  Sense  perceives  the 
things  immediatelv  before  it  :  as  colors,  shapes,  sounds,  and  the 
round  of  occurrem-es  in  nur  w.rld  fnmi  day  to  day,  and  ironi 
year  to  vear.  Faith  lo<,ks  t..  things  which  arc  not  seen.  ''  Vaith 
is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  tbr,  the  evidence  of  things  not 
seen."      Tmt  faith  is  quite  as  natural  an  exercise  of  mnid  as  sight 


is.  \\\'  all  believe  in  tilings  which  we  have  not  seen,  amt  may 
never  see,  as  in  distant  lands  and  remote  events — of  the  existence 
of  India  and  China — of  old  empires  and  o'cological  epochs. 
There  is  an  idea  entertained  bv  some  that  faith  is  a  veiy  myste- 
rions  thing — visionary,  nnreal,  inexpressible,  and  inexplicable — 
as  incomprehensible  as  some  of  the  grand  objeets  at  which  it 
looks ;  and  they  excuse  themselves,  in  conseqitenee,  from  seeking 
what  they  conceive  to  be  so  diffieult  to  catch,  or  they  content 
themselves  with  cla-sj^ing  a  cloud,  when  tliey  might  have  a  sub- 
stantial reality.  Xow  there  is  no  operation  of  mind  more  simple 
in  itself,  or  which  we  are  called  on  more  frequently  to  exercise, 
than  faith.  The  boy  believes  in  the  affection  of  his  father,  the 
pupil  in  the  knowledge  of  his  teacher,  the  youth  in  the  trust- 
worthiness of  liis  bosom  friend,  the  husbandman  in  the  seasons, 
the  patient  in  the  medicines  of  his  physician,  the  merchant  in  the 
connection  between  demand  and  sui)ply,  and  the  scholar  in  the 
value  of  research.  Religion,  in  requiring  us  to  exercise  faith,  is 
not  demandin«j:  anvthin<x  unreasonable  or  unnatural.  Chancre  the 
ol)ject  to  which  it  is  directed:  let  it  be  a  faith  not  in  an  earthly, 
but  in  our  Heavenly  Father;  not  in  an  erring  human  teacher, 
but  a  divine  and  infallible  one ;  not  in  a  friend  who  may  fail  in 
the  time  of  need,  but  one  ^^that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother;" 
not  in  a  general,  who  may  himself  fall  in  the  fight,  but  one  who 
has  gained  the  victory,  and  will  make  us  conquerors  and  more 
than  conquerors;  not  in  the  drugs  Avhich  cure  the  body,  but  the 
blood  of  Christ  which  heals  the  soul  ;  not  in  the  revolution  of 
the  seasons,  but  the  grander  movement  of  God's  ])rovidence ;  not 
in  the  laws  which  regulate  the  acquisition  and  distribution  of 
wealth,  but  in  the  connection  of  sin  and  suffering,  of  holiness  and 
heaven  ;  not  in  the  value  of  human  scholarship,  but  of  divine 
learning — and  it  IxM-omes  the  faith  that  saves  and  sanctities. 
Columbu-  belie\-ed  in  a  woi'ld  bevond  the  then  known  woi'ld, 
sailed  towards  it,  and  reached  it;  the  Christian  believes  in  a 
world  beyond  the  grav<',  and  betnkes  himself  jo  the  ark  which 
is  to  carry  him  to  it. 

15ut  the  (piestion  is  started,  What  is  faith  psychologically — that 
1^,  :i-  •Ml  .■v,.i-.M-.i.  ..(■  tip.  MiitM]  •'      I<  it  an  act  of  the  head  or  of  the 


heart?    Of  tlKMiiidcrstandin,^- or  the  i'(M'riii.:;s  ?    Ot'hothV  ..i  ..,.,   : 
or  of  which?     To  this  (juoiioiiinu;    I    r(»j)ly  first,  tliat  all   these 
phrases  need  to  he  e\j)]ainc(l.     So  far  as  they  arc  in  popular  use, 
they  are   va«ji;iic,  ainl)iu::iioiis  ;    so  llir  as  they  helont:;  U>  ineiital 
science,  no  two   nietaj)hysicians  explain   them  alike.     We  need 
not  a})peal  to  the  inspired  record  to  settle  such  questions  seientifi- 
<'allv,  for  Scripture  is  not  a  hooU  of  psycholoirical  any  more  than 
it  is  of  astronomical  or  chemical  science.     It  speaks  of  the  stars, 
the  elements  of  aii-  and   water,  as  they  arc  noticed  by  common 
observation;  and  it  speaks  of  the  faculties  of  the    mind  in  the 
same  manner — not  formin<r  a  new  nomenclature,  which  it  would 
1)(^  dillicnlt  to  com])rehen(l  and  arduous  to  study,  but  employinjiC 
the  phrases  wliich  it  found  in   use  at  the  time.     Some  represent 
the  whole  controversy  as  settled  by  Rom.  x.,  10  :  "  For  with  the 
heart  man  believeth  unto  ritrhteousness."     But  the  most  cursory 
examinati(m  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  word 'Mieart"  has  a 
considerably  dilferent  sio:niiication  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments from  what  it  has  in  literature  and  common  conversati«)n 
among  us.     Wv  now  denote  by  it  simply  the  feelings  :  we  under- 
stand by  the  head,  wc  feel  with  the  heart,     l^ut  in  the  llebri'W 
and  Hebrew-Greek  use  of  the  term,  men  arc  spoken  of  as  under- 
standing with  the  heart,  as  Mat.   xiii.,  15;  the  peoj)le's  heart  is 
waxed  gross,  "  lest  they  should  understan<l  with  their  heart."   ( )ne 
without  heart  is  one  without  understanding;  '*  Kphraim  is  bke 
a  silly  dove  without  heart."  [Hos.  vii.,  11.  See  also  Job,  xxxviii., 
:>(j  •  Prov.  X.,  S;  l^^.  vi.,  {>,  S:v.]      Imaginati<ms  come  frcmi  the 
heart:  "  Kvery  imagination  of  man's  heart  is  only  evil."    [Gen. 
vi.,  2.]     In  Holy  writ,  the  word  evidently  stands  for  inwar<l 
thought  and   feeling  of  every  kind,  and   includes  all  the  various 
kinds  of  rellection,  i)urposing,  and  sentiment   which  i>ass  in  the 
mind   ])rior  to  action.      When  the  shepherds  visited  Mary  after 
the  birth  of  the  babe,  *^^he  kept  all  thc'se  things  and  pondered 
them  in  her  heart."      [Luke  ii.,  li).]      When  Jesus,  at  the  age  of 
twelve,  lingered  in  *W  Jerusalem,  and  drew  forth  the  wonder  of 
the  peoi)le  as  he  conversed   with   the   doctoi-s,  '*  Mary   kept  all 
these  thin-s  in  her  heart."      [Luke  ii.,  '/J.] 


'^  With  tlu'  heart  man  l)ellevi'th  ;"  but  with  the  lioart,  in  the 
Seripturc  use  of  the  word — tliat  is,  Avith  the  inward  man,  not  of 
tlie  mere  feelings  w  hieh  are  eaUed  bowels  in  Seripture,  but  of 
botli  the  liead  and  heart  in  the  modern  use  of  the  terms.  You 
may  have  observed  that  while  the  phrases  "  believe"  and  "faith" 
(»((ur  so  frequently  in  the  Xew  Testament,  they  are  more  rarely 
found  in  the  Old  Testament.  But  we  have  the  authority  of  the 
Apostle  Paul  [I\om.  iv.]  for  saying  that  the  plan  of  salvation  is 
the  same  in  the  two  dispensations  ;  that  men  were  saved  under 
the  Old  Testament  as  they  are  under  the  Xew — by  faith.  The 
phrase  more  fre(piently  in  the  Old  Testament  is  '^  trust,"  less 
fre(|uently  "eonfide."  Kvery  reader  of  Serlpture  must  have  no- 
tieed  the  frequent  expressions  of  trust  in  the  Psalms  and  the 
])rophets,  and  the  eommands  to  trust  in  Him:  "The  Lord  is 
^^ood;  blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  Him."  [Ps.  xxxiv.,  8.] 
"God  is  my  salvation  :  I  will  trust  and  not  be  afraid."  [Is.  xii.,  2.] 
C'ond)ining  and  eomparing  sueli  passages,  we  see  that  faith  implies 
an  exereise  of  the  higher  att'eetions  of  the  soul.  If  we  draw,  as  I 
believe  we  may,  and  ought,  the  distinetions  of  modern  mental 
seienee,  and  apply  tliem  to  Seripture,  then  we  have  to  say  that, 
understanding,  will,  and  feeling  are  all  im])lied  in  faith.  There 
must  l)e  un<lerstanding  ;  for  how  can  we  believe  in  a  thing  of 
which  we  have  no  notion?  This  is  im])lied  in  Ivom.  x.,  14  ^ 
"  How  shall  they  ])elieve  in  Him  of  whom  they  have  ui>i  heard?" 
v.,  17 — "  Faith  eometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  l)y  the  Word  of 
(lod."  But  the  iaith  that  saves  is  more  than  a  mei'e  intellectual 
judgment:  it  is  trust — it  is  confidence;  and  this  comprises  an 
exercise  of  will  ;  it  involves  the  power  of  choice.  \Vv  attach 
ourselves  to  Him,  we  accept  of  Jlim,  we  cast  ourselves  on  Him, 
we  rest  iijmn  Him.  According  to  this  view,  faith  consists  of  an 
assent  of  the  understanding  with  the  consent  of  the  will,  and 
these  two  raising  feeling  according  to  the  nature  <>f  the  truth> 
a)»i)rehended  and  believed  in. 

Some,  in  these  days,  are  forexcr  telling  us  that  iH'ligioii  i>  an 
atfair  of  the  heart,  and  n<>t  the  head.  They  show  us  that  a  sju'cn- 
lativc  a-scilion  of  do'j-ina  wiilmnl  love  i>  cold,  unattractive,  <)iVcn- 


sivc.  They  rciniiid  ii>  tlmt  tlic  stcrirK-c  cniiM  ii<»t  risr  In  Heaven 
without  a  fire  to  kindle  it.  All  (nie.  I  allr.w  ;  hut  it  is  e(|uallv 
true  that  niei-e  ('motion  witlioni  an  ohjeet  intelliixent  Iv  aj»|)|-e- 
hended  will  turn  out  to  he  void,  empty,  evanescent,  and  read v  to 
evaporate.  If  there  he  no  aeeeptahle  ofl'erinir  till  it  is  kindled, 
it  is  equally  clear  that  the  tire  and  the  wood  will  he  meanin^dess 
witliout  a  land)  lor  a  hin-nt  oIleriiiL:-.  [(Jen.  wii.,  7.]  Whv  insist 
on  sc'paratiui;-  what  the  Lord  hath  j(»ined  to<r(.ther — like  male 
an<l  female  in  marria^■( — first  in  the  constitnti(»n  of  our  minds 
and  then  in  the  aiVeetion  of  his  pen|)l( — the  iniion  <>\'  the  fiian 
with  the  Hexihle?  I  should  certaiidy  (lepl<»re  to  find  anv  <me 
restiuii' contented  with  a  iiiith  without  feeling:';  hut  it  is  e(juallv 
vain  to  try  to  rise  to  a  stahlished  assurance  without  fir>t  Liainintr 
the  conviction  of  the  un(h'rstandin^'. 

Religions  faith  is  sju'cially  faith  in  ( Jod,  as  i-<vealt<l  to  us. 
(Jod  liath  so  fai*  made  himself  known  to  u>  in  nature.  It  is, 
therefore,  a  faith  in  (Jod  as  seen  in  His  works,  fashioned  so  skill- 
fully, in  His  ])rovidenee  ordered  so  wisely.  But  then  (tod  has 
heen  pleased  to  make  a  partieular  i-evelation  of  him>elf  in  His 
AVord  to  man  as  a  fallen  and  errin*;  hein^.  Jfelitiious  faith,  then, 
is  speeially  a  helief  in  the  testimony  which  (fo<l  liath  jriven  of 
himself  in  the  Scriptures.  ]>ut  (iod  hath  there  manifested  him- 
self to  us  in  the  face  of  His  Son.  "  Xo  man  hath  seen  (ind  at 
any  time;  the  only  hetrotten  Son  who  is  in  Ilis  Ixtsom  he  liath 
revealed  him."  The  faith  that  saves  is  a  fliith  in  Christ  the 
Saviour.  ''  What  is  faith  V"  asked  a  minister  of  a  jtooi-  woman, 
a  mend)er  of  his  coniireuation."  "  l-'aith,"  she  answered,  "  is 
just  taking-  (Jod  at  Ilis  W'oi-d."  (Jod  says,  **  I  have  so  loved  sin- 
ners as  to  <rive  my  Son  to  die  foi-  them."  Faith  responds,  "  L«trd, 
I  helieve  it."  (Jod  says,  "  Hei'c  i-  the  <xift  of  my  Son."  I*'aith 
replies,  "  I  take  thee  at  thy  word  ;  I  chise  in  with  and  accept 
thy  <rracious  off'ei-."  The  faith  which  a|»j)i-i>priates  ( 'hrist  hrinjrs 
us  into  a  covenant  relation  with  (Jod,;ind  we  enter  u|ton  ])<»s- 
session  of  the  hlessinu:>i  which  have  heen  j»ur<hase<l. 

We  can  discover,  so  I  think,  an  appropriatencs.s  in  faith  hein^ 
mad«'  the   instrument   of  saving  the  siimer.      We  see  that  some 


10 

other  jH'njMJSoti  iucmiis  arc  inajiplicabk'  and  iiiipi'acticahk'.  Some 
would  have  the  sinner's  restorati(>n  to  favor  (le])en(l  on  his  re- 
})entanee  and  on  tlie  obedience  rendered,  as  if  <ieniiine  repent- 
ance did  not  rctjuire  tliat  tlie  sinner  slioukl  first  he  reeoneiled — 
as  if  ol)e(lience  rendered  hy  a  sinner,  unreeoncik'd,  woukl  l)e 
accepted  l>y  (kxL  Or,  some  one  may  say,  let  the  sinner  first 
love  (rod,  tmd  then  he  will  be  ])ardoned.  ]5nt  the  diffienltv  is  to 
kindle  love  in  a  heart  alienated  from  God.  In  order  to  ol)edi- 
ence,  in  order  to  love,  there  must  first  be  a  turninfj;  to  God  ;  there 
must  be  a  resting  on  him  :  and  what  is  this  but  faith  ?  In  faitli 
we  submit  to  him  ;  we  bow  ourselves  before  him  ;  he  is  pacified 
towards  us ;  and  the  stream  of  afiection  Avhieli  hatl  been  re- 
strained is  ready  to  flow  forth,  we  are  ready  to  receive  ^vhat  he 
is  ready  to  irive, and  it  becomes  in  us  ''a  mcII  of  water  springiui;' 
up  unto  everlastin*::  life." 

AVhen  the  sinner  is  justified  by  faith  we  are  not  to  understand 
that  faith  justifies  as  being  a  work.  This  would  be  fallino;  back 
on  the  legal  system  of  justification,  by  works  or  merit.  A\  e  hear 
j)ersons  asking,  in  doubt  or  in  scorn,  '^Oh,  how  shoukl  there  l)e 
so  great  merit  in  faith  to  save  the  sinner?"  But  we  have  only 
to  reflect  for  a  moment  to  discover  that  there  is  no  merit  in  faith 
to  save  the  sinner.  One  reason  why  faith  is  chosen  as  the  means 
of  saving  us  tliat  it  has  and  can  have  n<Mnerit.  "  Where  is 
boasting  tiien  ?  It  is  excluded.  ])y  what  law  ?  of  works?  Xay  ; 
Imt  by  tlie  law  of  faith."  [Uom.  iii.,  27.]  "  Not  of  works,  lest 
any  man  .-hould  boast."  [Kph.  ii.,  I).]  h'aitli  is,  in  its  very 
nature,  lowly  and  dependent;  it  looks  U\  another,  it  leans  upon 
another.  It  is  the  mere  mean  or  channel  through  which  the 
blessings  which  ( 'hrist  ])urchascd  How  into  the  suul  in  rich  pro- 
fusion. Now  it  is  reciuircd  of  a  medium  or  channel  that  it  be 
clear  of  obstruction  :  that  there  be  nothing  in  it  to  stoj)  that 
which  i>  meant  to  pa-s  tln-ough  it.  Herein  lies  the  great  eflicacy 
of  liiith:  it  receives  that  which  is  given  it,  and  through  it  the 
virtue  that  i-  in  Chrl-f  fl(>\\<  int..  the-«.iil  iwul  eni-iche<  aixl  satis- 
fies it. 

\\  iiat  a  pnwrr  c\<'ii  in  ,,iii-  cai-lhlv  laillis.  as  when  men  sow  in 


n 

tlie  assiinin'-c  tluit  they  shall  reap  ail'T  a  Ion--  s.-a^nn,  and  laiM.r 
ill  the  ('ontidciKr  oi'  a  rcwanl  at  a  i'ar  distance  I  What  an  ctli- 
caoy  in  the  trust  \vhi<*h  the  child  reposes  in  the  parent,  which  the 
scholar  ])laces  in  his  master,  which  tiic  soldier  jnits  in  his  p-ncral, 
which  the  lover  coniinits  to  the  person  beloved!  These  are 
amonji;  the  eliief  j)otoneies  which  have  been  niovinir  nlaId^ind  to 
good,  or  alas  I  to  evil.  As  it  walks  steadfastly  on,  it  discovers 
an  outlet  where,  to  sense,  the  way  seenu'd  shut  in  and  closed. 
Diilicultics  irivo  way  as  it  advances,  and  impossibilities  to  jiru- 
dcncc  become  accom])lishmcnts  before  tin;  cner«ry  of  faith. 

To  it  we  owe  the  irreatest  achievements  which  mankind 
have  etfeeted  in  art,  in  travel,  in  concpiest:  settin«^  out  in  search 
of  the  unseen,  they  have  ma<le  it  seen  and  palpable.  It  was  thus 
that  Columbus  ])ersevere(l  till  the  huiir-looked-for  country  burst 
ui)on  his  view — it  is  always  thus  that  men  discover  new  lands 
and  new  worlds  outside  those  j)reviously  known.  It  takes  us, 
as  it  were,  to  a  mountain  top,  and  widens  the  horizon  ol  our 
vision. 

But  how  much   more  potent  is  faith  in  God.      It  carries,  and 
this  accordino;  to  the  measure  of  it,  the  j)ower  of  (i(Kl.     It  is  the 
attractinu"    power   that    keeps    the   soul    circulating    round    the 
Fountain  of  Li<rht,  as  the  earth   does  round  the  sun   and  i<  illu- 
minated by  it.      h  is  no   doubt  weak,  in  that   it   leans;  but  it  is 
strono-,  in  that  it  leans  on  the  arm  of  the  ()mnii)otent.      It  is  a 
creature  impoteney  which  lays  hold  of  the  Creator's  power.     It 
can  do  more  than   remove  mountains  ;   it  can   bid  away   the  h>ad 
of  sin  Ivinj::  on  the  conscience  and  the  heart.      ''  We  are  justified 
by  faltli,"  savs  Paul.     [Hmn.  vi.J     ''  It  purities  the  heart,"  says 
IVter.     [Acts    xv.,    i>.]      It    '' Wi»rketli    by    love,"   says    Paul    in 
another  epistle.     [<  Jal.  v.,  0.]      It  -  overcometh  the  wcn'hl,"  says 
.John.     [1  Ep.  v.,   b]      It  is  rich,  for  it  serves  itself  heir  to   th^ 
blessin-s  jmrchased  at  a  o-reat  price,  and   left  a<  an  inheritance. 
There  are  times  when,  if  we  had  nothin-  but  sense  and  appear- 
ance, we  should  feel  a.s  if  we  were  sinkin-  in  a  dark  and  bottom- 
less abyss;  but  bv  faith  we  plant  our  feet  on  the  Rock  of  Aires, 
and   are  >taved   and   stabli>he<l.       When    the   pnwerlhl     kin-    of 


,i^y^  Svriii  caiHc  upon  Klislia  >liiit  up  in  the  small  and  (k'ti'iurk'ss 
t<nvn  ( »f  J_Mlliii^^^  ^''^'  })r()l)lu't  continued  calm  and  unmoved,  be- 
raiise  ho  knew  that  "they  that  l)c  with  us  arc  more  than  he  with 
them."  Ihit  his  servant,  when  he  looked  on  the  horses,  the 
chariots  and  the  ureat  host,  Avas  in  <2:reat  alarm,  and,  at  the  re- 
(jucst  of  his  master,  the  Lord  opened  his  eyes,  and  he  saw  Avhat 
tlie  ])rophet  Jiad  seen  all  alono- — '^  the  mountain  full  of  chariots, 
and  horses  of  fire  round  about  Elisha."  80  if  Ave  had  but  faith 
we  would  see  that  the  host  of  the  Lord  '^encampeth  abcmt  them 
that  fear  him,  and  delivereth  them.'^  Faith  shows  us  the  land 
that  is  afar  off  as  if  it  were  near  us,  as  in  certain  states  of  our 
atmosphere  th(»  distant  mountains  look  as  if  they  Avere  in  our 
immediate  neiohlxtrhood.  As  we  walk  by  faith,  our  eye  is  lifted 
from  the  earth  and  directed  onward  and  u])ward,  and  avc  travel 
with  the  earth  beneath  our  feet  and  Heaven  in  our  eve. 


11.  •'  l)Ut  speak  thou  the  tliino-s  that  become  sound  doctrine." 
Ihis  is  a  farther  duty.  A\  e  are  first  to  belicA'e,  but  we  are 
also  to  be  ready  to  s])eak  what  we  believe,  and  put  it  in  the 
form  of  sound  doctrine. 

There  is  a  difference  between  ha\iug  a  ii'ood  reason  for  our 
I'aith  and  giving  a  good  reason  for  our  faith.  Kvery  student  of 
logic  has  heard  the  story  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  England,  who, 
on  aj)pointing  one  who  had  not  had  i\\Q  adA'antage  of  a  legal 
training  U)  a  judicial  office,  gave  him  the  sagacious  counsel; 
"  When  you  j»ronounee  a  deeisi(tn,  do  not  add  the  reasons.  Your 
decision  fi*<jm  vour  <i;ood  sense  will  invariablv  be  riii'ht  :  vour 
reasons  will  often  be  wrong."  Hccausc  a  j)lain,  sine(M-e  Christian 
I'auuot  e\j)(»uiid  his  reasons  fbi-  believing  in  the  liible  as  the 
\\  ord  (»f  (jlod,  we  are  not  t<»  conclude  that  he  has  no  reasons.  A 
very  correct  process  of  thought,  ))rom])ted  by  a  good  and  honest 
heart,  may  ha\-e  |)asse(l  through  liis  mind  ;  l)Ut  it  might  I'ccpiirc 
a  logi<*ian  to  unlbld  it.  Still  it  is  useful  when  a  man  has  not 
«ndy  good  i-easnns  for  himself,  but  is  prepared  to  oi)ey  the  com- 
mand, "  !>('  ready  always  to  gixc  an  answer  lo  es-ery  man  that 
asketh  ynii    n    i-ci-on    fui-   the    hope    that  i>  in  \-ou  witii   meekness 


1-, 

U-   In 


:in(l  ir:ir."  Ilis  i)\\n  Ihilli  is  str(ii<;llirn('«l  l.y  liis  l»»iu<:  :il>l 
fall  l):uk  ii])<)n  the  evidences  when  lie  is  teinptrd  tn  dnuht  ;  and 
lie  lias  inaiiv  opixuMiiuit io  of  roiiN  iiiciii;^-,  iiifliiniriiiL:.  mikI  Ljuid- 
iiio'  others. 

He  is  to  '' speak  t  lie  liiiiiiis  t  liat  i>ecniii(' -omid  <lort  rinc"    I)or-\ 
trine  or  doniiia,  like  science,  is  arranged   m-  >y>t<'Miati/cd    irutli.  / 
The  truth  is  reveale(l  by  (1(k1,  l>nt  tlie  ioriii  and  e\|)res>ioii  ot  it 
mav  he  made  hy  man.     'Hie  truth  revealed   in   tlie  Word   is  un- 
orrinii',  havinjr  the  sanction   of  the  Cuh]   iA'  truth.     The  arramrc- 
ment  hv  man  may  heiiwu-e  or  less  |)erleet,  more  or  less  imperle<'t. 
The  truth  as  revealed  consists  of  histories,  hijj^rniphies,  symlnds, 
types,  ])reeepts,  promises,  warnini;s,  categorical  statements  a.s  t«i 
the  character  of  (Jod  and  of  man,  seatterod  over  sixty-six  hooks, 
eomposed   by  perhaps  a<   many  different  writers,  some  of  thest 
having  written  a  umnher  of  works,  such  as   Moses,  l^iul,  and 
John,  but  some  of  the  books,  such  a<  r>alm<an<l  Proverbs,  lK'in;j 
the  composition   of  a   number  of  jn-rsons    se))arate<l    from    eacl 
other  by  ages.     To   know  these  truths,  as   they   have  been   con- 
veyed  to  us  by  the  inspired    writers,  is   all  we  need    to  know  in 
order  to  salvation.      1  believ<-  there  are   many  now   in    lieaveii 
whose  knowledge,  when  they  were  on  earth,  <.f*  the  truths  reveale«l 
in  Scripture  was  extremely  limited.    The  (pic-iinii  ha^  <.ftcn  been 
put,  How  little  may  a  man  believe  and  yet  be  >avcd  V     The  .jues- 
ti(m  is  a  eurimis  rather  than   a   |)r.»litable  one.      it  can   be  defi- 
nitely settled  <mly  by  Ilim  who   -  kiioweth  oiir   frame  "auil  .-an 
maki'    allowance    fbr   cireumstances.      Kvery    one    who    is   siived 
nuist,    I    should  judge,  believe   in   (h.d    the   Saviour,   and    have 
eh>sod  in   with  the  gospel  (.fVer;  but  more,  they  will  1m-   rea.ly  to 
believe  in  all    that  i>  revcal.'d,  >o  far  a>  th.-y  arc  able    m  bccmnc 
accpiainted    with    it.      They    must    never    urge    the  circiimstaiuv 
that  their    km.wledge    is  so    liniite<l  as    an    excu>c    fbr  their  not 
taking  steps  to    know    more.      It    will    be  tlu-  cariicM   .loiiv  of 
every'^genuine  believer  to  become  versant   with  all  that   Cod  has 
been  pleased  to  make  kiK.wn  in  the  voluiiu"  of  the  IxH.k. 

While  (Jod,  bv   cm|>loying  men   of  .livcr>ificd  gift.--,  ha>   made 
His  Word    ^nni.Mcntlv    varied  to  Hiit    the   ta>t.-   of  mankind,  >o 


14 

far  as  tliev  arc  hi'althy,  he  lias  not  so  enlarged  it  in  bnlk  as  to 
place  it  beyond  the  jiower  of*  an  intelligent  reader  to  master  its 
■general  eontents.  Not  a  lew  Christians  have  had  the  laudable 
desire  to  make  themselves  ae(|uainted  with  the  whole  Seriptnres 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  And  as  man  is  a  rational  being, 
he  will  be  lm})elle(l  to  employ  his  mind  al)()ut  Avhat  has  been 
written.  "  1  speak  as  to  wise  men  :  judge  ye  what  I  say."  As, 
possessing  the  eai)aeity  of  feeling,  he  would  give  them  a  plaee  in 
his  heart,  so  as  endowed  with  intelligenee,  he  would  Avish  to 
allot  them  a  plaee  in  his  head,  and  ineorporate  them  into  his 
thoughts.  ^\s  the  original  Seriptnres  were  written  in  a  language 
whieli  is  no  longer  spoken,  so  it  is  needful,  in  order  to  our  under- 
standing or  even  reading  them,  to  translate  them,  or  have  them 
translated,  for  us.  Then,  there  arc  many  words  and  idioms  in 
the  Hebrew  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  Greek  of  the  Xew 
Testament  which  have  nothing  corresponding  to  them  in  English, 
and  in  order  to  bring  them  within  our  tongue  and  our  compre- 
hension, we  must  exercise  judgment  upon  them,  and  choose  the 
fittest  phrase  to  express  them.  And  among  not  a  few  there  will 
be  a  strong  desire  to  co-ordinate  and  bring  under  proper  heads 
what  is  disj)ersed — like  stars  over  the  sky — in  the  inspired 
writings.  As  there  are  men  of  intelligence  who  have  a  desire 
not  only  to  know  individual  plants,  but  to  have  plants  classified, 
not  only  to  know  the  separate  stars  in  the  sky,  but  to  group  the 
heavenly  bodies  into  constellations,  and  to -determine  the  laws 
Avhich  join  planet  to  sun  and  star  to  star,  so  there  are  men  Avho 
would  tabulate  the  events  of  sacred  history,  to  formalize  the 
several  ])recei )ts,  and  combine  the  scattered  proi)ositions  in  the 
form  of  sound  woi-ds. 

Then,  there  are  circumstances  ever  casting  up  in  the  history  of 
the  church,  which  recjuire  us  to  put  truth  in  a  definite  shape, 
uoi  only  Ibr  the  benefit  of  the  individiiiil,  but  of  the  church  at 
large.  As  we  might  expect  from  the  tendency  of  mankind  to 
err,  and  as  the  inspired  writers  themselves  have  inx'dieted,  there 
spring  u|)  jxisous  who  misunderstand  the  AVord,  and  give  a 
wrong    interj)retation  ;   jncn    unstable    a-  water — unlearned  and 


iinstaliic,  wlio  \vn'>t  the  writiiiii-  ol'  I'aiii,  aiui  im-  njiici-  ><  ri|)- 
tiircs,  to  tlu'ir  own  (Icstnictioii.     Tlicrc  must  lie  nunc  way,  imt  it 

UKIV  1)0  «tt'  iXcludinLl  these  llieli  jioiii  the  enlilllimiinn  oi'  the* 
cliiifch,  l»iit  (>r  heeomiii^-  the  tenehei's  nt'  ntliers,  to  comIum'  and 
mislead  them.  IJiit  then  it  Is  said  yoii  may  use  tlie  S-ripturcs 
themselves  ior  this  i»urj)<)se.  And  it  i-  true  that  the  appeal  must 
nlwavs  1h\  at  the  eommeneement  an<l  the  close,  to  tlie  Word  of 
God.  lint  the  snhjeet  of  dispute  here  is  as  (o  the  meaninj;  of 
Seripture,  They  profess  to  be  willinir  to  accept  what  the  15ii)le 
teaches,  but  they  <rive  an  jitterly  ju'rverse  interpretation  of  it. 
Thus,  in  the  fourth  century,  there  aro>e  a  body  of  men  who 
denied  that  Jesus  wastridy  (Jod,  e(|ual  with  the  Father,  and  tor- 
tured the  words  of  Seripture  to  defend  tli<ir  hereticid  o])inions. 
There  required,  therefore,  to  be  some  means  of  ascertaining  tiie 
sense  in  which  persons  nnch'rstood  the  Scriptures — some  test  to 
try  whether  they  re.<:arded  Cln'ist  as  truly  (lod;  so  the  theolo- 
o-ians  of  the  aire  devised  a  nomenclature  bv  which  to  exclude 
those  who  deemed  the  divinity  of  our  Lord,  who  were  rc([uired 
to  sav  that  he  was  of  one  substance  with  the  Father.  Ilcnee  the 
neeessity  and  the  use  of  ereeds  and  confcssi<tns. 

Doetrinal  ])ropositi( ms,  either  when  couched  in  S<rii)ture  lan- 
guage or  drawn  directly  from  Seripture,  serve  several  important 
ends.  It  is  true  that  faith  in  them  is  never  to  be  ,-ubstituled  for 
faith  in  the  living  God  and  the  living  Saviour.  Few  things  in 
this  world  arc  more  offensive  than  hca.l  knowledge  without  eor- 
rcsponding  practice ;  than  an  uncharitable,  scowling  orthodoxy, 
with  no  humble  and  loving  i'aith  in  the  loving  Saviour.  Tiiis  is, 
in  fact,  the  very  essence  of  Pharisaism,  which  has  been  felt  to  l)c 
so  repulsive  in  all  ages.  Its  sternness  is  apt  to  dignify  itself 
with  the  name  of  high  principle  ;  but  if  it  be  without  atfcH'ticm, 
it  is  without  the  essential  ])rincii>le  of  Christianity,  which  is  love, 
being  the  highest  perlection  in  the  character  of  Mini  who  is  ex- 
pressively called  Love,  liut  il"  faith  in  doctrine  is  conjoined 
with  faith  in  Christ,  it  accomplishes  some  very  Ingh  jjurposc^. 
First,  it  makes  our  ideas  clearer,  and  keeps  ..ur  thoughts,  meili- 
tations,   and   expressions  consistent.      It    is  cf  special    value   to 


tcacliors,  as  it  enables   thorn  to  ixixmiul    the   truth   more  elearly 
and  consecutively  to  tlieir  liearers,  wlio   can    take   it  up   more 
readilv  and  })rotitahly,  and  call    it  back  into  the  memory  more 
readily  and   frecjuently.     Jt    is  not   necessary  that   they  should 
alwavs  trouble  their  audience  with  the  ratiocination  which  has 
satisfied  themselves.     John  Foster  remarks  of  the  great  preacher, 
Ivobert    Hall,  that  he  trave  his  hearers  the  results  of  profound 
thinkinii'  without  the  ])rocesscs  that  led  to  it.      I  am  of  opinion 
that  the  perspicuous  and  brief  exposition  of  the  ii:rounds  or  })rin- 
ciples  <tf  a  ureat  truth  mioht  })e  profitable  in  a  sermon  addressed 
to   an   intelliueut   audience — (piite   as   nuich  so  as  a  sensational 
appeal    to    the    inia_a:ination    or    the   feelings.     But    whether    he 
chooses  to  speak  of  it  to  his  people  or  not,  there  should  always 
be  a  regulating  principle  of  sound  doctrine  in  his  own  mind, 
guiding  and  guarding  the  preacher.     This  will  keej)  him  from 
mistakes  into  which  he  might  otherwise  fall,  on  the  one  side  or 
the  other,  while  it  would  give  him  a  fearlessness  in  proclaiming 
the  full  and  many-sided  truth — say  the  freedom  of  the  gospel 
offer  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  sovereignty  of  God  on  the  other. 
But  sound  doctrine  may  be  ])rofitable  not  only  to  the  teacher,  but 
to  the  private  Christian.      Even  the  good   woman  that  I  referred 
to  in  the  ojx'uing  (►f  this  discourse  might  have  been  all  the  better, 
had  she  been  able  to  S])eak  about  Christ,  as  she  was  ready  to  die 
for  Him.   A  clear  apprehension  of  divine  truth  will  save  a  ])rivate 
Christian  from  many  inconsistencies,  int(>  which  he  might  other- 
wise fall  without   being  aware  of  it — say  from    imprudences  and 
sins   into    which    impulse  might  hurry  him,   and    which    might 
greatly  liindci-  I li.s.  progress  in  the  divine  life,  and  bring  disgrace 
on    the  cMUse  of  ( 'lirist.      A  man    may  be  a  very  good    miu'lianic 
without    knowing   natural    philosophy  ;    a    very   good   gardener 
witlwait  knowing  botany;  but  they  will  be  the  greater  proficients 
in  tiicii-  ai-t  pi-oxidcd  tliev  know  the  scientific  })rinciples  on  which 
it  i-  founded.      So  a   man    mav   be  a  good   Christian,  though  he 
has    not    studied    theoloirv  ;     ])ut    he    will    be   a    higher   style    of 
( 'lii'i-t ian,  and    will    cai'i'v  more    weight,  when    he  is  able  to  <'on- 
dense  his  vague  kuowIcdH-c  into  a  brief  and    ('omj)reheusive  form 
of  soun<l  won  is. 


17 

These  arc  (loctriiuil  statements,  so  I  hold,  in  the  Word  ol'Ciod. 
True,  the  early  Seriptures  do  not  eontiiin  many  jrenenil  or 
abstract  propositions.  They  do  not  commence  a.s  our  catechisms 
and  church  articles  do,  with  enunciations  a.s  to  tlic  bein*;  and 
character  of  God,  as  to  the  naturr  and  destiny  of  man.  The  (hxl 
who  made  us  knows  how  to  suit  His  instructions  to  us,  and 
begins  as  the  mind  of  man  does  in  its  natural  progre.-^ — its  you 
see  the  child  docs — with  the  singular  and  the  eonerete,  with  in- 
cidents, with  biographies,  with  operations  of  (jod  and  deeds  of 
man — with  the  creation,  the  fall,  the  ])romise  of  the  ^wd  of  the 
woman,  with  the  sacrifices  (jf  Cain  and  Abel,  the  Hood,  the  dis- 
persion of  mankind,  the  call  of  Abraham,  the  going  down  into 
Egypt,  the  })reservation  of  the  i'amily  by  means  of  Jose})h,  the 
exodus  under  !Moses.  But  from  an  early  date,  and  as  mankind 
were  prepared  to  abstract  and  generalize,  there  come  up  general 
expressions,  which  read  as  if  they  were  the  articles  of  a  confes- 
sion. The  doctrine  still  comes  in  under  the  form  of  a  particular 
proposition.  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  an<l  the 
earth.''  [Gen.  i.,  1.]  "God  created  man  in  his  own  image;  in 
the  image  of  God  created  he  him."  [i.,  27.]  "Every  imagina- 
tion of  the  thoughts  of  man's  heart  was  only  evil  continually." 
[vi.,  5.]  "Abraham  believed  in  the  Lord,  and  he  counted  it  to 
him  for  righteousness."  [xv.,  6.]  "The  Lord  i)assed  by  before 
Moses  and  proclaimed.  The  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and 
gracious,  long  suffering  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth, 
keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  inicpiity  and  transgres- 
sion and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty." 
[Exod.  xxxiv.,  6.]  "  "  Hear,  oh  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one 
LoM."  [Deut.  vi.,  4.]  The  declarations  of  this  kind  beo 
more  numerous  as  men's  minds  are  enlarged,  and  they  are  al) 
to  understand  them.  The  psidms  are  full  of  lofty,  spiritual 
thoughts  and  moral  maxims  expressed  in  lively  poetiail  form, 
fitted  to  strike  the  fancy,  and  likely  to  stick  in  the  memory.  Out 
of  the  prophets  you  could  draw  a  full  creed,  theological  and 
ethical.  Our  I.<ord  opens  the  New  Testament  dispensation  even 
as  Moses  introduced  the  Old,  by  illustrations  and  examples.    He 


ome 
e 


18 

thus  encourages  little  cliiklren  to  draw  nigh  to  Him,  while  other 
teachers  would  drive  tlieni  away.  ^'  The  common  people  ever 
heard  him  gladly,  and  rejoiced  in  his  instruction,  because  he 
tauiiht  tliem  not  subtleties  like  the  scribes,  but  by  self-evidencing 
statements,  which  shine  in  their  own  light."  Still,  you  find 
coming  out  in  our  Ijord's  teaching,  a  number  of  grand  truths, 
wide  and"  all-embracing  as  the  canopy  of  heaven — which  ever 
widens  as  we  seem  to  approach  its  boundaries.  "I  and  my 
father  are  one."  [John  x.,  30.]  ^'  Except  ye  be  born  again  ye 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  [John  iii.,  3.]  ^'  Except 
ye  repent  ye  shall  all  perish."  [Luke  xiii.,  3.]  "  I  am  the  res- 
urrection and  the  life :  he  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were 
dead,  yet  shall  he  live."  [John  xi.,  25.]  AYhen  He  left  the 
earth,  our  Lord  gave  a  promise  to  his  disciples  that  the  Spirit 
would  guide  them  into  all  truth,  and  the  Epistles  of  the  Apostles, 
which  contain  the  latest  revelation  of  the  mind  of  God,  are  full 
of  doctrinal  statements.  In  the  Epistles  of  Paul  and  Peter,  spe- 
cially in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  we  have  a  complete  exposi- 
tion and  defence  of  Christian  doctrine,  and  from  these  any  one 
could  draw  a  complete  creed,  expressed  in  Scripture  language. 

I  admit  that  there  must  be  stringent  limits  imposed  on  the 
formation  of  doctrines,  and  the  imposition  of  creeds  on  indi- 
viduals and  on  churches.  First,  we  must  see  that  they  are 
drawn  directly  and  easily  from  the  Word  of  God.  The  general- 
izations we  make  must  be  of  the  statements  of  Scripture,  and  not 
of  the  dicta  of  our  reason,  not  even  of  our  experience  as  Chris- 
tians. The  great  German  theologian,  Schleiermacher,  made 
Christian  divinity  an  expression  and  embodiment  of  Christian 
consciousness.  But  this  is  to  reverse  the  proper  order  of  things — to 
])ut  that  which  is  first,  last,  and  that  whicli  is  last,  first;  it  is  to 
make  our  experience  determine  the  doctrine,  instead  of  making 
the  infallible  trutli  of  the  Word  determine  and  guide  our  expe- 
rience. It  is  not  the  sliadow  on  the  dial  which  regulates  the 
time,  for  the  dial  may  be  displaced  and  become  mistimed ;  but  it 
is  the  sun  in  the  Heavens  that  should  regulate  both  the  dial  and 
the  time  wliirli   tlic  dial  sim])ly  indicates.     Secondly,  no  mot^ 


1!) 

human  sj)ccnlation,  however  j)laiisil)le  it  may  seem  to  tliose  who 
fiivor  it,  must  be  aHowed  a  ])la(('  in  what  professes  to  he  Bible 
doctrine.  Phih)S()phei-s  are  at  lihcrly  t<»  s|M'culate  as  they  please 
on  the  numerous  toi)i(s  bn.ucrht  before  us  in  llw  Divine  WCiJ. 
But  the  eonelusi(ms  whieli  tliey  reach  arc  to  be  re;::ar<l('(i  a-<  Ivinir  in 
the  region  of  philosophical  speculation,  and  not  (»f  s<'riptural  truth. 
The  history  of  philos(>phy  and  nf  inclnphy.-i<al  t hcoh )|ry  show.s 
liow  sure  men  are  to  wander  when  they  pass  beyond  the  thinj^s 
revealed,  and  venture  into  the  region  of  the  secret  things  wliich 
belong  to  the  Lord  our  (iod.  A  celebrated  reformer  used  to 
represent  angels  as  anuising  themselves  with  the  folly  of  the  dis- 
cussions in  which  theologians  engage,  often  with  such  do<nnatism 
and  bitterness.  The  rash  a&sertions  which  divines  liavc  made 
wlien  tlicy  drew  an  astronomy  or  a  geology  out  of  tlie  visual  d«'- 
scription  of  phenomena  in  the  AVord,  are  full  of  instruction  and 
rebuke  to  those  who  would  rciir  theories  out  of  Scripture  bv  human 
logic.  ]N"o  one  should  boast  that  he  has  been  able  to  rise  to  a 
full  comprehension  of  all  the  truths  which  God  has  bec^n  pleased, 
so  far,  to  reveal  to  us.  And  so  when  we  profess  to  cx])ouhd 
Christian  doctrine,  we  must  be  careful  to  av<»id  all  wire-drawn 
distinctions — all  mere  dialectic  processes  involving  al)strusc  no- 
tions and  complicated  trains  of  reasoning.  In  vciy  many  of  the 
awfully  profound  subjects  discussed  in  theology,  we  mav  fall  into 
fatal  error  on  one  side  or  other  when  avc  begin  to  argue  from 
Scripture,  instead  of  simply  accepting  it.  AVhat  is  called  infer- 
ential theology — that  is,  theology  made  up  of  inferences  from 
Scripture — should  be  confined  within  very  stringent  limits.  Cer- 
tainly, we  have  no  right  to  impose  conclusions  of  our  own  on 
men  Avho  may  be  willing  to  accept  Scripture  on  the  fair  interpre- 
tation of  it.  In  the  construction  of  creeds  of  every  kind,  ad- 
vantage must  be  taken  of  the  generalized  statements  of  the 
inspired  writers,  specially  of  the  Epistles  of  tlui  A2)ostles.  A\^e 
should  also  look  to  the  confessions  which  have  been  drawn  out 
in  various  ages  of  the  church  to  express  the  faith  of  God's  pcoph^^ 
and  guard  against  heresy;  in  the  Apostles^  creed — which  is  an 
old  one,  though  it  does  not  go  back  to  the  time  of  the  A2)ostles; 


20 

in  the  Xicone  creed ;  in  tlic  I^iitlicraii  and  Calvinistic  confes- 
sions ;  in  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  ;  the  Westminster  Confession 
of  Faith,  and  Shorter  Catechism ;  and  tlie  Thirty-nine  Articles 
of  tlie  Chnrch  of  England — not  that  any  Christian  is  bonnd  to 
accept  these  becanse  they  hayc  been  constructed  by  great  and 
good  men  or  adopted  by  churches.  Every  one  is  entitled — nay, 
bound — to  judge  for  himself,  dc  novo,  and  as  if  no  one  had  ex- 
amined it  before,  all  that  is  offered  to  his  belief.  But  wlicn  he 
has  done  so,  and  then  consults  the  confessions  that  have  been 
dra^yn  out  by  various  churches  in  various  ages,  he  will  find  that 
there  is  a  wonderful  consensus  as  to  all  important  doctrines,  and 
that  the  fiiith  of  all  times  has  been  virtually  the  same ;  and  as 
he  notices  this,  his  views  will  thereby  be  rendered  clearer  and  his 
assurance  confirmed  and  strengthened. 

But  it  is  recommended  to  us  to  make  our  creed  as  wide  and  as 
loose  as  possible,  lest  we  exclude  any  of  God's  chosen  ones  from 
the  fellowship  of  the  church.  They  warn  us  that  by  imposing 
too  much  we  may  lay  a  burden  on  the  conscience  Ayhich  it  is  not 
able  to  bear,  w  hich  may,  in  fact,  crush  weak  believers  and  stir  up 
others  to  rebellion.  There  is  some  wisdom,  but  more  folly,  in 
this  counsel.  Yielding  to  the  judgment  of  charity,  we  are  not 
to  exclude  a  man  from  th6  communion  of  saints  because  his  creed 
seems  to  us  to  be  scanty.  Nor  are  we  to  require  of  teachers  in 
the  church  a  profession  of  faith  in  logical  distinctions  or  specu- 
lative theories,  or  indeed  in  anything  beyond  what  is  written  in 
the  Word,  and  so  written  that  "  he  who  runs  may  read.''  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  we  must  employ  wise  and  firm  means  to  secure 
that  they  who  are  officially  set  apart  to  teach  others,  '^  continue  in 
the  Apostles'  doctrine,"  [Acts  ii.,  2,]  and  hold  fast  the  form  of 
sound  words  which  they  have  heard  of  l*aul  and  the  other 
Apostles.  [2  Tim.  i.,  L'J.]  AVe  are  warned  against  being  "chil- 
dren tossed  to  and  fro  and  carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doc- 
trine by  the  sleight  of  men  and  cunning  craftiness,  whereby  they 
lie  in  wait  to  deceive."  [Eph.  iv.,  14.]  Such  men,  with  or 
without  knowing  it,  lead  others  into  confusion,  inconsistencies, 
and  even  heresy;  they  are  blind  leaders  of  the  blind,  whereby 


21 

both    fall  iiilo  the  ditch.      A^  to  (tc(m1,  a  cliurch   is  not  actini,' 
Avisely,  is  not  actinu"  ihitlilully,  when  it  utt<'rs  an  uncertain  sound. 
And  as  to  direct,  s])ontau('ous   faith,  it    i>  w  rou^^   to   rccoiiuucud 
any  one  to  helieve  as  little  as  jMissihlc.      All  are  ready  to  iK-lievo 
^v]lat  God  has  been  pleased  to  reveal.     ''  All  S<-ripturo  is  ^nven  hy 
inspiration  of  (Jod,  and  is  profitable  f<»r  doctrine,  for  re])roof,  for 
corroetion,  for  instruction  in   ri:ihteousnc>s,  that  the  man  of  (Jod 
may  bo  pcrfoet,  thorouLrhly  I'urnished  unto  all  ,i;ood  works."     [2 
Tim.  iii.,  16.]     Kvory  truth   there  nvealed  has  no  doubt  a  ]Mir- 
pose  to  servo:  to  inoroasoour  kno\vled<2:o,  to  stron^hcn  our  faith, 
to  onlaro^o  our  lovo,  to  warm  our  foolin«]:s  ;  to  warn,  to  rebuke, 
to  encoiirao;©,  to  comfort;  and  so  far  as  any  ono  refus(\s  to  accept 
any  inspired  declaration,  lie  may  be  losin^r  the  benefit  which  it  is 
fitted  to  convey.     Soientific  experiment  shows  tliat  if  any  of  the 
constituents  of  the  snnl)oam  be  o1)structod  by  artificial  moans,  the 
plant  on  which   it  shines  will   l)c  a])t  t<^   take  an  unnatural,  a 
sickly  hue;  and  when  men  arc  indisposed  to  receive  any  of  those 
truths  given  by  inspiration,  and  which  are  profitable  each   for 
a  purpose,  it  will  turn  out  that  their  piety  is  so  far  unhealthy, 
misformed,  and  they  are  *' not  perfect,  thorouohly  l^irnishcd  unto 
all  i2:ood  works." 

But  then  it  is  urj^cd  that  many  excellent— nay,  devoted— Chris- 
tians have  had  a  very  limited  apprehension  of  doctrine — nay, 
have  held  erroneous  tenets.  They  show  us  that  there  was  jienuine 
faith  in  the  middle  a.ojes,  when  images  wore  used  in  worship, 
when  priests  claimed  the  power  of  forgiving  sin,  and  when  it  was 
the  general  belief  that  persons  couhl  1)0  justified  by  ritual  ob- 
servances. They  prove  that  there  would  he  genuine  love  to  Go<l 
in  the  breasts  of  members  of  the  Romish  Church,  notwithstand- 
ing its  corruptions.  Tiicy  remind  us  tliat,  in  those  latter  ages, 
there  have  been  men— and  they  point  to  Clievalior  Bunsen— who, 
with  a  verv  defective  creed,  have  had  a  fervent  aflcction  for  the 
Saviour.  They  arc  always  (piictly  insinuating  or  boldly  tolling 
us  that  there  isMio  connection  ))otween  soundness  in  the  faith  and 
genuine  piety,  ^^.ot  the  heart,"  they  say,  'M,e  right,  and  it  is 
of  little  moment  in  what  state  tin*  head  may  bo."     ''  Mdi  are  to 


'2'2 

1)0  jiulLaHl  not  by  what  they  believe,  but  by  what  they  do." 
"Faith,  not  doetrine,  is  the  principal  thing/'  say  some.  '^Action? 
not  faith,  is  tlie  prinelpal  thing/'  say  others,  or  perhaps  the  same 
persons,  without  jK'reeiving  their  inconsistency.  Now,  there  is 
an  immense  conglomeration  of  confusion  first,  and,  by  implica- 
tion, of  misleading  error,  in  these  representations,  or  rather  mis- 
representations. A  sinner,  I  acknowledge,  may  be  saved  by 
faith,  with  very  little  knowledge ;  but  this  does  not  show  that  he 
can  have  faith  without  any  knowledge ;  it  does  not  prove  that 
lie  should  not  be  a  better  Christian  were  he  to  add  to  his  faith, 
knowledge ;  and  it  does  not  tend  to  indicate  that  those  who  have 
true  faith  will  not  always  be  prompted  to  seek  higher  knowledge. 
The  disciples,  when  they  first  believed,  and  even  after  our  Lord 
had  been  employed  for  three  years  in  training  them,  had  a  very 
limited  knowledge;  but  for  this  he  rebuked  them — "  O,  fools 
and  slow  of  heart  to  believe" — and  they  were  ready  to  receive 
instruction,  which  he  was  ever  imparting  to  them ;  and  when  he 
went  iij)  to  Heaven,  he  promised  the  Spirit  to  guide  them  unto 
all  truth.  "  When  Jesus  told  Peter  that  he  must  suffer  many 
things,  and  be  killed,  the  Apostle  took  him  and  began  to  rebuke 
him."  [Mat.  xiii.,  22.]  Yet  this  same  Apostle  lived  to  write  : 
"  For  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for  us,  the  just  for  the  unjust, 
that  he  might  bring  us  to  God."  [1  Pet.  iii.,  18.]  Many  me- 
dieval Christians  had  very  imperfect — indeed,  erroneous — views 
on  many  importiuit  points — but  this  did  not  help — it  rather 
hindered  their  piety,  giving  it  a  perverted  twist  or  a  sickly,  mystic 
hue.  And  we  who  live  in  the  full  midday  of  the  light  should 
not  seek  to  go  back  to  the  twilight  of  the  middle  ages.  I  admit 
that  not  a  few  have  had  a  genuine  faith  with  a  very  scanty,  or 
even  erroneous  formalized  creed ;  that  some  ready  to  die  for 
Christ  have  been  able  to  speak  for  Ilim  only  in  a  very  confused 
manner,  not  unmixed  wdth  heresy.  But  then  I  could  show  that 
thrlr  (Icfcctivc  belief  has  somewhat  distorted  their  piety,  giving 
it,  il  may  be,  a  monkish  appearance,  its  if  it  had  been  reared  in 
ji  cloister,  rather  than  in  the  fresh,  open  air  of  Heaven  ;  this  on 
the  one  hand  or  the  other  liand,  stillenlui''  their  character  into 


rationalism — as  in  the  caso  of  John  Locki — and  h-adin-r  thcni  to 
overlook  or  set  aside  truths  which  ihi;;ht  have  imparted  a  fervor 
to  their  feelings  or  an  impulse  to  their  active  benevolence;  or 
what  is  as  frecpient,  temi)tin<2;  them  to  nejrleet  ecrtiiin  eommon- 
plaee  duties  in  attcndin<!;  to  others  more  showv  or  sen.s;itional. 
And  then,  some  of  those  who  have  expressed  tlidr  faith  very 
imperfectly,  have  had  a  very  full  and  enlarged  spontaneous  faith 
in  their  God  and  Saviour — thus  I  have  been  able  to  testify  of 
Bunsen,  that  during  the  five  days  I  spent  with  him,  we  never 
conversed  "  for  ivn  minutes  at  a  time  without  Ins  n 'turning,  how- 
ever far  he  might  be  off,  to  his  J>ible  and  iiis  Saviour  as  the  ob- 
jects that  were  evidently  the  dearest  to  him."* 

A  living  historian  of  great  literary  ability,  in  addressing  an 
old  Scottish  university,  has  shown,  by  a  large  induction  of  facts, 
how  extensive  and  intensive  has  been  the  influences  in  various 
ages  and  countries  of  a  belief  in  such  doctrines  as  the  unbend- 
ing righteousness  of  God  and  the  predestination  of  all  things. 
The  portrait  which  he  has  drawn  of  Calvinism  is  not  a  true 
picture,  but  a  caricature — an  undue  prominence  being  given  to 
certain  features  and  others  sunk  out  of  view.  But  Mr.  Froudc 
has  had  a  glimpse  of  the  intimate  connection  between  a  belief  in 
such  grand  truths,  and  great  and  heroic  character.  "These  were 
men  possessed  of  all  the  cpialities  which  gave  no])ility  and  grand- 
eur to  human  nature — men  wIkjsc  life  was  as  upright  as  their 
intellect  was  commanding,  and  their  j)ul)lic  aims  untainted  with 
selfishness;  unalterably  just  where  duty  required  them  to  be 
stern,  but  with  the  tenderness  of  a  woman  in  their  hearts  ;  frank, 
true,  cheerful,  humorous,  as  unlike  sour  as  it  is  j)ossible  to  imagine 
any  one,  and  able  in  some  way  to  sound  the  key-note  to  which 
every  brave  and  faithful  heart  in  Europe  instinctively  vibrated. f 
The  faith  of  some  of  these  men  may  have  been  joined  with  error, 
not  so  much  in  their  hearts  or  convictions  as  in  the  partial,  one- 
sided expressions  which  they  employed  in  setting  forth  and  de- 
fending their  dogmas  logically,  to  face  opposition.     I>ut  it  was 


*  See  Life,  by  his  wi«l<.»\v.     f  '' C'lilviiiUm,''  l>y  .James  Antli«iny  Froudt 


24 

not  tlie  associated  error,  but  tlie  essential  truth,  Avliicli  made 
these  men  true,  eourai^eous,  and  steadfast.  There  were  misappre- 
hensions in  the  view  which  CoUunbus  took  of  the  country  he 
discovered — lie  tliouglit  it  was  part  of  the  East  Indies — but  lie 
had  risen  to  the  comprehension  of  the  grand  truth  that  the  earth 
was  round,  and  that  there  Avas  land  to  be  reached  by  sailing  east 
from  Europe ;  and,  in  this  faith,  he  sought  out  and  found  the 
New  AVorld.  So  there  may  have  been  imperfections  in  the  cree^I 
of  these  heroic  men  ;  but  there  was  a  direct  faith,  which  not  only 
saved  their  souls  from  inward  and  outward  corruption,  but  im- 
parted to  them  indomitable  energy.  And  it  is  only  so  far  as 
men  hold  by  the  same  heart  of  truth  that  they  can  rise  to  the 
same  elevation  of  character  and  devotedness  of  life.  ]\Ir.  Froude 
does  not  seem  to  see  this.  There  is  no  evidence  that  Mr.  Froude 
himself  believes  in  the  truth  which  has  made  these  men  so  true 
and  so  valiant  in  the  past.  He  talks  vaguely,  as  the  whole 
school  of  Thomas  Carlyle  do,  of  men  being  lovers  of  truth,  and 
brave,  as  if  men  could  be  lovers  of  truth  who  left  themselves  no 
truth. to  believe  in,  or  could  be  expected  to  be  brave  when,  they 
have  no  great  cause  to  fight  for.  As  it  was  in  ages  past,  so  is  it- 
now,  so  it  must  be  in  ages  to  come,  it  is  faith  in  eternal  recti- 
tude and  unmerited  love  that  stirs  up  to  deeds  of  benevolence 
and  self-sacrifice.  "  In  the  better  sort  of  men,"  says  Mr.  Froude, 
"there  arc  two  elementary  convictions :  that  there  is  over  all 
things  an  unsleeping,  inflexible,  all-ordering,  just  power;  and 
that  this  2)0wer  governs  the  world  by  laws  which  can  be  seen  in 
llicir  effects,  and  on  the  obedience  to  which,  and  on  nothing 
else,  human  weli'are  depends."  There  is  all  this,  Imt  there  is 
vastly  more  than  this  needed  ;  otherwise  there  Avill  only  be  a 
dead  faith  in  an  abstraction,  or  a  loose,  pantheistic  dream,  Avhich 
loosens  the  obligations  of  duty,  and  ends  in  mere  intentions,  with- 
out resolute  action.  It  must  be  a  faith  not  in  a  dead  ])ower,  but 
•A  living  (Jod,  holy  mid  benevolent;  and  not  in  inere  hnv,  but  in 
a  loving  Savioui-,  who  has  provided  an  expiation  ibr  those  who 
liave  broken  law. 

The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  drawn   by  (he  Apostle: 


*^Takc  liccd  (<)  thyself  iiiid  tlicn  t.»  tliy  doctniic."  [1  Tim.] 
Tliis  is  i\\v  projuT  order:  *' TaUc  liccd  to  thyscll'"  thy  soul's  sal- 
vation. AVithout  this,  faith  in  doii;iiia  will  be  of  no  avail.  \\'ith- 
out  this,  indeed,  there  will  always  ])c  somo  defect  in  our  doc- 
trinal belief — some  exclusivcness,  some  liarslniess  in  it.  Men 
^vllo  have  felt  the  truth  are  always  the  best  able  to  understand 
it ;  they  understand  it  because  they  appreciate  it.  Knowledge 
of  some  kind  is  im])lied  in  faith,  but  it  is  equally  eei-tain  that 
they  only  who  believe  can  rise  to  the  fullest  knowledge.  Divine 
truth  is  always  comprehended  by  the  heart — that  is,  by  under- 
standing faith  and  feeling  there  is  truth  for  all,  there  is  truth  for 
each  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind,  that  thus  the  whole  soul,  and 
not  a  mere  part,  may  be  drawn  to  God  and  to  good. 

AVe  see,  from  this,  what  is  the  style  of  preaching  most  fitted 
to  promote  the  cause  of  Christ.  It  is  ])reaching  that  speaks  of 
Christ,  and  speaks  to  all.  There  is  a  kind  of  preaching  which 
sprang  up  in  New  England  an  age  or  two  ago,  and  has  since 
traveled  south  and  west,  (►f  which  J  am  not  sure.  The  minister 
is  a  well-educated,  thinking  man,  and  he  reads  and  j)onders  most 
of  the  week,  and  he  brings  out  his  j)eculiar  cogitations  on  the 
Lord's  day.  All  well,  I  say.  The  good  householder  nmst  bring 
out  of  his  treasure  things  new  and  old;  his  congregation  will  not 
thank  him  for  throwing  to  them  what  hits  cost  him  nothing  ;  but 
then  he  brings  out  his  own  thoughts,  ingenious,  it  may  be, 
but  wire-drawn  and  abstruse,  instead  of  Ciod's  Word,  to  which 
they  are  pinned,  but  from  which  certainly  they  do  not  grow. 
They  are  admired  excessively  by  a  select  number  of  men  and 
women,  who  are  loud  in  praise  of  the  preacher,  and  oiler  him  a 
constant  incense  of  adulation  ;  but  as  to  your  children  who  wm- 
pose,  or  ought  to  compose,  so  large  a  portion  of  every  congrega- 
tion, as  to  your  servants,  male  and  female,  and  your  day  lalxirers, 
who  have  toiled  all  the  week,  they  might  have  felt  an  interest  in 
the  truths  of  God's  Word;  they  might  have  felt  an  interest  even 
in  the  grand  old  theological  distinctions  end)odying  the;  thoughts 
of  the  best  men  of  all  ages;  but  as  to  the  peculiar  notions  or 
nostrums  of  this  preacher,  they  do  not  understand  and  they  can- 


26 

not  relish  them,  and  it  is  no  great  loss  to  them  that  they  do  not. 
Wlioncvcr  puch  a  style  of  preaching  prevails,  the  common  people 
will  leave  the  churches  that  require  an  educated  ministry,  and  I 
am  not  sure  but  that  they  ought  to  do  so.  It  will  be  a  black  day 
for  any  church— blacker  than  that  which  it  may  have  had  to 
suffer  in  the  days  of  the  bitterest  persecution — ^vhen  it  ceases  to 
preach  to  those  to  whom  -the  Great  Preacher  w  as  specially  sent ; 
^'  To  the  poor,  the  gospel  is  preached.''  I  rather  think  that  there 
are  signs  that  our  merchants,  distracted  all  the  week  Avith  anxious 
cares  in  their  offices,  wish,  on  the  Sabbath  Day,  w-hich  they  w^ould 
have  to  be  a  day  of  rest,  to  be  delivered  from  all  further  distrac- 
tions, and  to  hear  the  truths  of  the  gospel  preached,  Avith  thought- 
fulness,  no  doubt,  but  giving  them  the  results  rather  than  the 
processes,  and  in  all  simplicity  and  affection.  Of  this  I  am  sure 
that  your  truly  learned  men,  when  they  come  out  from  their 
books,  from  their  literary  and  scientific  pursuits,  to  the  house  of 
God  on  the  Sabbath,  w^ould  like  to  hear  such  words  as  Jesus 
uttered  from  the  ship  and  on  the  mountain.  Old  Horace  felt  it 
tu  be  his  delight  to  sing  j^9«<?y/s  et  virglnihus,  and,  depend  upon 
it,  that  it  is  the  best  preaching,  and  the  most  poj)ular  in  the  end, 
Avhicli  suits  the  father  and  his  son,  the  brother  and  the  sister,  the 
mistress  and  her  maid,  the  learned  and  the  unlearned. 

But  while  you  do  this,  you  should  not  leave  the  other  undone. 
^'Take  heed  to  thyself,"  but  "take  heed  to  thy  doctrine."  We 
are  to  beware  of  falling  under  the  somewhat  prevalent  feeling 
that  it  is  of  no  moment  what  a  mans's  doctrinal  belief  is.  Spec- 
ulative belief  has  ever  a  tendency  to  undermine  our  spontaneous 
faith,  and  will  do  so  sooner  or  later.  Nothing  tends  so  much  to 
deaden  affection  as  skepticism  ;  it  is  like  a  piece  of  ice  at  his  heart, 
freezing  the  genial  current  of  feeling  that  may  be  circulating 
there;  it  is  a  cold  atmosphere,  in  which  iha  plant  may  live  for  a 
little  while,  but  will  soon  expire.  If  men  have  reasoned  them- 
selves-into  the  conviction  that  there  is  no  God,  they  will  soon 
cea.«e  to  cherish  any  affection  towards  Ilini,  except,  it  may  be, 
some  remains  of  a  fear  like  that  which  men  entertain  towards 
ghosts  after  they  have  ceased  to  believe  in  them.     *' Pie  that 


cometli  to  God  must  believe  that  he  Is,  and  tliat  he  is  the  rc- 
warder  of  them  tliat  diligently  seek  him."  Some,  l)r(Ml  and 
trained  in  their  youth  in  a  warm  region  of  faith,  have  retained  for 
a  time  a  eonsiderable  amount  of  fervor  in  sjjitc  of  their  uulxlicf; 
but  it  fades  like  a  refleetion  when  the  source  of  light  and  licat 
has  gone.  AVhen  we  ga/e  on  the  glow  of  the  evening  sky,  we 
arc  inclined  to  expect,  even  as  we  would  wi>li  it  to  continue  ;  hut. 
it  fades  into  darkness  as  we  gaze  upon  it.  So  it  will  be  witii  th«.' 
fervor  of  feeling  in  our  hearts  if  there  is  not  a  body  of  light  and 
truth  behind  to  keep  it  up.  It  is  essential  to  our  stability  to 
have  clearly-defined  truth  to  I'all  back  upon,  in  times  of  doubt 
and  perplexity — some  anchor  t(j  hold  us  when  we  might  be  driven 
about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine.  Such  a  form  of  sound  doctrine 
will  not  indeed  create  or  excite  feeling,  but  it  will  stay  and  stab- 
lish  feeling,  and  keep  it  from  vanishing  like  "  the  morning  cloud 
and  early  dew  which  i)asseth  away." 

It  is  a  duty  which  you  owe  to  yourselves  to  stand  fa.st  in  the 
faith.  And  this  is  a  duty  which  you  owe  to  Christ  and  to  His 
church,  to  "keep  that  which  is  committed  to  thy  trust" — to 
transmit  it  to  the  age  following,  and  thus  help  to  secure  that  it 
may  go  down  to  the  latest  posterity.  Not  only  so :  we  must,  as 
good  soldiers  of  the  Cross,  be  ready  "earnestly  to  contend  for  the 
faith  which  was  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  to  do  so  by  all 
proper  weapons  of  argument,  of  learning,  of  prayer,  of  affection- 
ate appeal. 

These  observaticms  of  a  combining  character  may  fitly  bring 
to  a  close  my  four  ye^irs'  course  of  religious  instruction  in 
this  College.  On  taking  upon  me  the  ollice  whicii  1  now 
hold,  I  found  that  I  was  recpiired  to  give  religioas  instruction  to 
the  students,  and  on  no  subject  had  I  such  anxious  thoughts  as 
in  regard  to  the  method  of  ])erfbrming  this  very  inii)ortant  and 
yet  delicate  duty.  I  do  not  claim  for  the  course  I  have  followed 
that  it  is  superior  to  that  followed  previously  in  this  College,  or 
to  that  followed  in  other  Colleges.  I  have  to  give  religious  in- 
struction, and  religious  instruction  nuist  mean  Bible  instruc- 
tion.    I  saw  at  once  that  it  could  and  .-linuhl  not  mean  the  phi- 


28 

losophy  of  religion,  or  the  criticism  of  religion,  or  the  defence  of 
religion.  From  my  tastes  and  my  prevalent  studies,  which,  for 
sixteen  years,  had  been  mainly  in  mental  science,  I  would  have 
found  it  easy  and  pleasant  to  dwell  on  themes  like  these.  But  I 
had  other  opportunities  of  expounding  philosophy  on  the  week- 
days, when  it  came  in  appropriately,  and  I  felt  that  if  I  gave  effec- 
tive religious  instruction,  I  must  ])ring  the  young  men  here  in 
close  contact  with  the  Bible,  and  induce  them  to  read  the  in- 
spired writings  for  themselves,  so  as  to  enable  them  to  spend  a 
profitable,  and  withal  a  pleasant  Sabbath,  and  so  that  they  could 
lie  down  with  a  clear  conscience  at  night,  feeling  that  there  was 
no  man  guilty  between  what  they  had  been  doing  and  the  duties 
which  God  requires  of  them.  Hence,  these  select  readings  in 
Scripture,  these  lectures  on  the  Lord's  Day,  these  weekly  recita- 
tions. I  have  carried  those  who  have  been  here  the  full  course 
in  the  first  year  over  the  Four  Gospels  and  the  Life  of  Christ ; 
in  the  second  year  over  the  Book  of  Acts,  with  references  to  the 
Epistles,  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit ;  in  the  third  year  over 
Christian  Doctrine,  with  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans ;  and  in  the 
fourth,  over  the  Old  Testament,  its  history,  and  its  poetry,  and 
the  prefigurations  of  Christ.  ]My  course  is  thus  a  circle ;  the 
student  entering  any  one  year  will  have  a  separate  subject  ex- 
j)oundcd,  and  those  attending  the  four  years  will  htivc  a  full 
course  of  biblical  instruction.  I  am  now  to  say  a  few  words  to 
those  who  are  about  to  leave. 

Those  of  you  who  have  pursued  the  lull  academic  course  have 
been  four  academic  years  Avitli  us.  'J'hcy  liave  been  ibur  event- 
ful years. 

They  have  been  eventful  years  in  the  history  of  the  College. 
You  entered  this  institution  at  the  time  wlien  tlie  country  wiis 
settling  down  after  the  devastating  war,  and  when  the  friends 
were  ready  to  rally  round  it  and  sujiport  it.  The  number  of 
students  has  slowly  but  steadily  increased ;  the  year  before  you 
came  it  was  two  hundred  and  sixty-four;  this  year  it  is  three 
hundred  and  seventy-nine.  Some  eight  or  ten  new  branches 
have  Im'cii  a<ldc(l  to  our  coui'sc,  bi-inging  it  up  I'ullv  to  tlic  wants 
of  the   time-;  and    selections  of  studies    within   stringent   limits 


29 


liavc  boon  allowed  in  the  two  advaneeJ  Classes.     Fellowships 
and  prizes  of  eonsiderahle  value  have  been  instituted  to  encour- 
age the  students  to  master  the  various  branches  of  learning  here, 
and  to  pursue  deeper  studies  for  a  time  after  they  have  got  their 
degree.     I  am  convinced  that  during  your  academic  course  there 
has  been  severer  study  than  before,  among  the  better  half  of  our 
students;  and  by  systematized  examinations,  we  are  seeking  to 
raise  up  the  standard  of  the  other  half.     Tiie  number  and  the 
elegance  of  our  College  edifices  has-been  largely  and  visibly  in- 
creased by  the  liberality  of  our  friends.     Among  other  points  of 
agreement,  it  is  worthy  of  being  mentioned  that  we  have  been 
delivered  during  your  course  from  some  of  the  old  College  cus- 
toms that  disgraced  it.     It  will  be  recorded  in  the  history  of  this 
College  that  one  of  the  last  acts  done  by  this  Class  was  to  pass  a 
set  of'^resolutions  against  the  employment  of  dishonest  means  of 
any  kind  at  the  College  examinations— resolutions  concurred  in 
by  all  the  students  assembled  at  a  public  meeting  for  this  pur- 
pose.    This  leads  me  to  remark  that  our  College  will  not  be  in  a 
satisfactory  state  until,  along  with  our  orthodox  religion,  we  have 
the  moral'tone  of  the  College  so  elevated  that  lying  and  deceit  of 
every  kind  are  reprobated  by  the  great  body  of  the  students.     I 
adhere  to  all  that  Paul  says  about  the  importance  of  foith  ;  but 
I  concur  as  heartily  with  James  when  he  says  that^"  faith,  if  it 
hath  not  works,  is  dead  being  a^liyc.''     [James  ii.,  17.] 

They  have  been  eventful  yeiu^  your  own  personal  history. 
They  are  four  years  of  human  life— proverbially  short  and  un- 
certain. Here  you  have  had  opportunities  and  facilities  for  im- 
provement, in  the  lectures,  the  recitations,  the  library,  the  scien- 
tific apparatus,  and  the  literary  societies.  You  have  gained  solid 
and  varied  knowledge,  more  or  less,  which  may  be  useful  through 
life,  to  you  and  others.  There  has  been  eager  study  on  the  part 
of^many,  and  they  have  acquireil  habits  of  application  and  per- 
severance to  go  with  them  through  their  wh..le  future  career. 
But  the  grand  work  is  not  ended  when  you  have  finished  your 
collegiate  course  :  it  is,  after  all,  only  begun-iu  the  case  of  some, 
well  be-un.     From  this    Commencement  season    you    have   to 


30 

enter  on  a  wider  arena,  with  more  numerous  eompetitors.  I  ex- 
hort those  wlio  have  gained  honors?  earefully  to  guard  their 
honors.  The  laurels  plaeed  on  your  brow  this  week  will  soon 
wither,  and  you  will  need  to  earn  fresh  ones.  Some,  behind  you 
at  this  stage,  may  come  to  outstrip  you  in  the  race  of  life.  Some 
this  day  may  be  feeling,  *^  I  have  not  done  what  I  might  have 
done  here.'^  AVell,  let  your  resolution  be,  from  this  day,  to  enter 
in  a  new  spirit  on  the  work  before  you.  My  definition  of  a  fool 
is  not  one  who  has  never  made  a  failure,  but  one  who  eannot 
profit  by  his  failures.  In  looking  back  on  my  past  life,  I  can 
testif\'  that  my  days  of  failure  have  been  the  times  that  most 
helped  me  on.  I  remember  fresh  as  yesterday  the  close  of  a 
session  in  my  collegiate  days,  when  honors  were  being  distributed 
to  my  companions  one  after  another,  but  none  came  to  me,  who 
had  been  reared  in  a  retired  country  district,  with  no  scholastic 
advantages,  and  I  formed  the  secret  purpose,  expressed  not  even 
to  mother  or  sisters,  in  the  strength  of  God  I  Avill  vie  with  the 
best  of  them  ;  and  ere  I  finished  my  College  course,  the  Univer- 
sity of  Edinburgh  departed  from  its  precedent  and  gave  me  an 
honorary  degree  of  A.  M.,  without  requiring  me  to  pass  an  ex- 
amination. I  sav  it  for  the  encoura2:cment  of  those  who  mi«:ht 
feel  discouraged,  because  they  get  no  honors  on  this  occasion, 
that  you  may  resolve  to  seek  higher  and  more  enduring  honors. 
But  let  me  tell  you  that  you  arc  going  forth  into  a  field  where 
you  will  have  more  powerful  temptations — before  which  many 
fall.  From  the  instruction  you  have  received  here  out  of  God's 
M'ord  you  know  what  is  needful  in  order  to  your  being  able  to 
stand.  You  know  that  you  need  gracious  aid  to  prepare  you  for 
that  place  to  which  you  all  trust  to  go  when  your  labor  here  is 
over.  But  you  know  what  is  equally  important  for  you  to  know, 
that  you  need  a  higher  strength  than  your  own  to  guide  you  in 
the  right  j)ath  through  the  tangled  scenes  of  this  life.  So  then 
that  you  Iiave  iirst  faith  to  hold  by  (lod  for  yourself;  and 
secondly,  that  you  hav(?  faith  in  doctrine,  which  may  keep  you 
linn,  and  enable  you  to  instruct  others.  This  is  the  last  time  you 
will   meet  as  a  Cla.ss  for  the  j)ul)lic  worship  of  God.     1  do  trust 


31 

that  some  of  you  will  moot  licre  from  time  to  time,  to  revive  (»1«1 
rceolleetions  and  strengtlien  old  frien(lslii])s.  liut  prohaMv  after 
the  solemnities  of  these  few  days  are  over,  you  will  never  all 
meet  at  any  one  time  or  plaee.  ]5ut  you  may  now  at  this  vcrv 
time  and  place  enter  into  a  covenant  ^'  ordered  in  all  things  and 
sure/'  which  will  insure  your  meeting  again — no  wanderer  lost — 
if  not  on  earth,  yet  in  Heaven :  "come  and  let  us  join  ourselves 
to  the  Lord  in  a  perpetual  covenant  that  shall  not  be  forgotten." 
With  this  Class  I  have  been  brought  into  contact  for  the  last  four 
years  at  least  twice  each  week;  with  the  Junior  Class,  and  with 
the  majority  of  the  Senior  Class,  three  times  every  week.  Jt 
would  show  that  I  have  no  heart  if  I  did  not  feel  a  i)ang  in  part- 
ing with,  and  if  I  did  not  promise  to  feel  an  interest  in  you.  I 
remain  here  so  long  as  God  sees  fit  to  span;  me  for  usefulness; 
you  go  away  to  widely  ditiering  scenes  and  spheres.  The  good 
wishes  and  the  prayer  of  your  Alma  Mater  will  follow  you.  She 
will  rejoice  to  hear  of  your  prosperity.  She  will  rejoice  still 
more  to  hear  of  your  being  good  and  doing  good.  Some  of  you, 
if  you  exhibit  the  same  good  qualities  you  have  done  here,  may 
rise  to  eminence.  All  of  you  may  be  useful  members  of  societv. 
She  will  shed  a  secret  tear  of  shame — concealing  it  from  every 
one — if  she  hears  of  any  of  you  doing  a  dishonorable  deed,  or 
falling  into  vice.  I  feel  at  this  moment  as  if  I  had  lost  many 
i)recious  opportunities  of  doing  good.  I  feel  as  if  I  had  left 
much  unsaid  that  I  should  have  said,  and  I  am  tempted  to  say  it 
now.  But  past  neglect  cannot  now  be  atoned  for,  and  I  know  I 
am  not  likely  to  deepen  any  impression  for  good  by  nuieh  sj)eak- 
ing.  So,  in  the  name  of  our  graeious  Redeemer,  I  give  you  one 
other  invitation  to  come  to  Christ,  and  '^I  commit  you  to  Him 
who  is  able  to  keep  you  from  falling,  and  to  jiresent  you  faultless 
before  the  presenee  of  His  glory  with  exeeeding  joy." 


